Did you start working on a different painting or something? You haven't posted any updates on the latest painting. GROG know sometimes if you're struggling with a piece, it's good to get away from it for awhile and then come back to it with fresher eyes.

Aloha Tiki Tribe!
Grog, naw I am working on the painting "2 tikis". I had some other work to do , planning the huge tiki mug release party is taking a lot of time and effort on the side of things, but it's all coming together so well. Very exciting stuff, and if you don't know what I'm talking about go to the Tiki Events and check it out :
http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=42660&forum=4&start=45&57SOOOOOOOO, now lets look at the two tikis. Sometimes it's good to take a little time away, come back to a painting and you can see it with fresh eyes.

What I saw was I needed to do some fixing up on my tikis. They got a little too cartoony for my tastes, and I wanted them to be fun and expressive but not too crazy - the tiki gods on this seething active volcano I live on might take offense if I do not treat their far flung pop-culture likenesses with respect! so here's where we are about now...

Yep! only days away from being done! Feels right and good and my inner tiki-o-meter is pointing towards the green.

Aloha Tiki Tribe!
Hope all is well with you tiki-fans... I'm kinda just coming out of an artistic funk and am looking forward to the "Muse of Art" visiting me this midnight , witching hour, and inspiring me with all kinds of cool art ideas! This may also be a by product of getting the latest issue of Hi Fructose Magazine in the mail today! A very cool piece on Mark Ryden's newest show inside. That and I got the "art of Pacific Rim" art book - very inspiring to read writer/director Guillerno Del Toro's creative process, and see all the beautiful monster and robot designs. So... I picture different people as my artistic muse. Usually, and at first it was the classical, beautiful woman, like the greek "Muse of Art" kinda' thing. However, Now-a-days, I picture Ron Pearlman as my "Artistic Muse".
RAWK on Tiki Tribe! Time to make some tiki-ART! ALOHA!

So, I'm finally laying in the semi transparent layers of color on the tikis, and the TIKI LOUNGE. now the sign is red, and the left tiki is turning purple /blue. Wow, this is really a time consuming process, but I'm being carful and am determined to get this "layering" thing right this time. So far so good. the sky is very deep, and all that work on it has payed off. Now lets see if the under painting work on the tikis is going to pay off as well.

Big Aloha!
Brad~
Brad's Imaginary Art Muse Sez:
"Hmmm. Much better than when Brad usually just ends up slappin' too much paint on too thick, and totally screwing up and covering the image beneath. Then Brad has to just re-paint the whole damn thing, but in color. This could be a step in the right direction. It's a subtle thing. Tinting, not painting."

Aloha Tiki Tribe!
Wow, I am extremely honored when people are inspired by my are to do something creative , or use their own artistic skills. This is a beautiful hand tooled pair of leather "slippa's" with the " Sunken Tiki" on them - given to me by an artist who was inspired, through the nice folks at the Wyland Gallery. Thanks! This is wonderful hand crafted work. This makes my Monday!
Big big Mahalo!

Aloha Tiki Tribe!
Here's the "Two Tikis" now... you can see a bit more of the inner light of the TIKI Lounge. and the whole lighting of
the scene is making more sense. (WHEW!) Feeling much better after a late night of painting and "tinting" once again.
Now, to finish up the tiki on the right, the cat needs a little more rendering and the skull, plus the texture of the foreground.
This is the last day before it goes to get professionally photographed to be made into art prints.
Big ALOHA! B~

Brad's Imaginary Art Muse Sez:
"Okee Dokee. More tinting, and not over-painting the careful under-painting. Better. Da' kid might be learning how to
use acrylic paint (after 6 years!). Now, to get that tiki on the right looking just right, fill in the cat, with-out loosing the
"cat look" he's got going right now. then, some nice working up on that skull: skulls are VERY special and fun things
to paint, so they gotta' be done with all the love a low-brow artist can muster. Then, checking the light source,
some ground texture, ...and oh yeah, there is a land mass that needs to be seen out beyond the breakers, on the
right to help balance out the whole she-bang. That last bit was an important bit of art directing from a very VIP &
secret source on TC. Brad owes a big Thanks to his anonymous art director."

Aloha Tiki Tribe!
I've been afraid to look at both images till just now.
And ..well... I think, maybe, I like my giant Tiki
better than the Queen giant robot on the "News of the World" Album...
(Whew, I was freaking out all this time!) But, wow that album RAWKS!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZaXGYKtqzwBrad's Imaginary Art Muse Sez:
"Yeah Yeah, now spread your little wings and get yer painting done!."

Aloha Tiki Tribe!
I stayed up all night putting the finishing touches on this painting: "Two Tikis". The many hours of layering in semi-transparent layers of acrylic paint to color the monochromatic under-painting finally paid off! Sweet!
It has a really nice "glow" and "depth" to it. I know the fine art-patrons who commissioned this piece will be happy
( I hope they will, er, hmmm..) I know I was after I saw the final effect. Really, though, this may be the first time I
actually "hued" the under-painting, instead of just blotting it out with paint that was too thick, and having to
re-paint the whole darned thing in color. I hope some of this "glowing depth" comes through in the high-end
giclee - art prints!
ALOHA! BP~
]
Brad's Imaginary Art Muse Sez:
"Hey, what do ya' know, the kid didn't screw it up! Well... some sleep deprivation may be
just what he needed to learn how to lay in color!. Too bad he was too tired and forgot to
paint in that island /land mass on the right, off past the waves that would have helped
balance out the composition. Maybe this is good too."

Aloha Tiki Tribe!
Hey, got something cool in the mail today! An Alice Cooper CD combo of "Brutal Planet" &
"Dragon Town" - both when he was in full come back mode. Wow, they really RAWK!
And I also found a VERY cool pic
from a member of the Tiki Tribe who's band "LEFTHEAD" rawks super-mega-ultra HEAVY,
and... well, I'm honored with this image!
- Big Mahalo Kevin!
Check out Kevin here:
https://www.facebook.com/kevin.hipp1?fref=tsBIG ROCKIN' ALOHA Everyone!
Brad's Imaginary Art Muse Sez:
"Ah, I hope you're not gonna try an' tell me, because Alice Cooper
lives over on Maui and does his radio show there, that this CD might
be called "Hawaiian Music" are ya'?"